Tennessee – injustice.inhttp://injustice.in
Thu, 07 Jul 2016 13:33:15 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5http://injustice.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/cropped-rsz_2014-11-14-scalesofinjustice--150x150.jpgTennessee – injustice.inhttp://injustice.in
3232School to Prison Pipeline Alive And Well: Elementary School Students Arrested For Watching Playground Fighthttp://injustice.in/crimes-against-children/2016/04/20/school-prison-pipeline-alive-well-elementary-school-students-arrested-no-reason/
Wed, 20 Apr 2016 22:02:47 +0000http://injustice.in/?p=3327Lawmakers calling on TBI, Dept of Justice to investigate Murfreesboro child arrests At least 10 children ages 6 to 11 were arrested at Hobgood Elemetary School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee for reportedly not breaking up a fight that not only did not occur on school grounds–rather at a neighborhood basketball game–a fight that happened nearly a month …

]]>Lawmakers calling on TBI, Dept of Justice to investigate Murfreesboro child arrests Zacchaeus Crawford speaks to reporters about the arrest of 3 of his children. Credit: HELEN COMER/DNJ

At least 10 children ages 6 to 11 were arrested at Hobgood Elemetary School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee for reportedly not breaking up a fight that not only did not occur on school grounds–rather at a neighborhood basketball game–a fight that happened nearly a month before the arrests were made. The utter absurdity of this arrest has led to two Nashville lawmakers to call for federal and state investigations of the event.

The children were handcuffed and taken to the Juvenile Justice Center in Murfreesboro on April 15. Most incredibly, the misdemeanor charge against them all was the criminal responsibility for the conduct of others. Thus the arrest was caused by inaction, not deliberate wrongdoing. One of the Hobgood students reportedly shot video footage on their cellphone and took it to school where it was seen by a teacher and later police.

The situation is equal parts laughable and shameful.

They were arrested entirely without cause.

It is also a dangerous reminder of how terms like the “School to Prison Pipeline” are very much legitimately a practice in low-income school districts nationwide.

According to First Baptist Church Pastor James McCarroll, who held a community meeting on the arrests, some of the students arrested were not even at the fight when it took place and some parents were not notified of the arrests until police came to the school to detain their child.

Murfreesboro Police Chief Karl Durr promised to investigate the arrests at the meeting.

The Rev. James McCarroll speaks at a community meeting at First Baptist Church on East Castle Street in Murfreesboro on Sunday about the arrest of several young students. (Photo: Brian Wilson / DNJ)

Two state representatives are calling on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and the US Department of Justice to investigate the arrests.

State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) said in a statement Tuesday “There is not rational justification for this act in our society,” adding further “We cannot begin to imagine the fear and confusion experienced by these young children. This experience will undoubtedly remain with them as they mature into adulthood and negatively mold their views of law enforcement officials. It is truly unfortunate that the inappropriate acts of a few, who are not representative of the other brave men and women who honorably serve our communities, will create a new level of distrust between our communities and law enforcement.”

Murfreesboro Police Department has been largely silent on the details, most likely because it involves juveniles. Upon arrest, the students were taken to a juvenile center and charged with the “misdemeanor of being criminally responsible for the conduct of others.”

Not everyone is reassured. Democratic Rep. Mike Stewart noted that Cheif Durr had called the handcuffing of kids as young as 6 a “learning experience” and does not think he understands the magnitude of the excessive force involved and that he cannot be properly relied upon to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.”

Stewart said “This is every parent’s nightmare, and we need to make sure that it is never repeated.”

As Stephanie Bohon at the University of Tennesse-Knoxville and founder of the Center for the Study of Social Justice notes “Children, by definition, are immature. It’s appropriate to ground them or give them detention, but when you deal with that kind of behavior byt handcuffing children and running them through the legal system, the first thing they learn is the police are there to punish them, and they are not there to help them.”

“They will forever be scarred because of that.”

]]>Tennessee Becomes Latest State To Use “Religious Liberty” As A Justification For LGBT Discriminationhttp://injustice.in/lgbtq/2016/04/06/tennessee-becomes-latest-state-use-religious-liberty-justification-discrimination-lgbt-persons/
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 20:59:14 +0000http://injustice.in/?p=2965HB 1840 allows mental health professionals to refuse service to LGBT persons based on a “sincerely held religious belief” Tennessee state lawmakers Wednesday afternoon passed HB 1840, a bill that would effectively allow mental health professionals to refuse service to anyone based on the “religious liberty” of the counselor, therapist, or other involved professional. Passing in …

]]>HB 1840 allows mental health professionals to refuse service to LGBT persons based on a “sincerely held religious belief”
Tennessee State Legislature

Tennessee state lawmakers Wednesday afternoon passed HB 1840, a bill that would effectively allow mental health professionals to refuse service to anyone based on the “religious liberty” of the counselor, therapist, or other involved professional.

Passing in the House and Senate by huge margins, 68-22 and 27-5, respectively, the bill now heads to GOP Governor Bill Haslam for his signature, which he is expected to sign into law immediately.

The legislation is considered particularly toxic for Tennessee’s LGBT population. As nearly a quarter of the state’s 6.5 million residents live in rural areas where access to mental health care can be especially limited, therapists refusing service may also in theory be the only care that person in question might be able to realistically seek logistically.

The ACLU of Tennessee has consistently warned that the bill if signed into law would allow counselors to “refuse to see clients for almost unlimited reasons.” Under HB 1840, theoretically a counselor could refuse to see a lesbian simply because of her sexual orientation, or similarly a couple involved in an interracial relationship.

“For people seeking counseling because they are faced with a critical dilemma in their lives and need objective guidance, allowing mental health professionals to discriminate could cause grave damage. Many who need care already face significant barriers, including trauma, marginalization, and a historic distrust of mental health providers. For some—like a woman who wants to escape her abusive spouse or a gay teen being bullied, for example—this bill could affect their very survival.”

The controversial legislation, sponsored by Dan Howell, R-Georgetown, does require therapists to make a referral to a professional willing to take the case should they refuse service, however it ultimately takes the control of care away from the clients, which combined with its predominant rural population, nonetheless unnecessarily sets a dangerous precedent.

Rep John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, led the opposition to the bill, putting forth five amendments that would add exemptions, including minors who are victims of bullying and other conditions.

They were all blocked by the GOP-controlled legislature.

“If we don’t even amend this bill to protect children, what signal does this send?” Clemmons said. “The actions taken by this body, especially at this point, if we can’t stand up for children, people looking to invest in the state of Tennessee are going to turn away.”

HB 1840 is just the latest state-enacted legislation to use the umbrella of religious liberties as a code for the legalized discrimination of LGBT persons. In the past two weeks, GOP-controlled legislatures have passed similarly dangerous laws in Mississippi and North Carolina, with Alabama, Minnesota, and Nebraska all having similar legislation introduced on their house floors.

]]>Chattanooga Police Officer Fired For On Duty Sexual Assaulthttp://injustice.in/women/2016/04/06/chattanooga-police-officer-fired-duty-sexual-assault/
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 16:22:47 +0000http://injustice.in/?p=2929Officer Alexander Ego was fired by police chief Fred Fletcher on Tuesday. The officer was accused of sexual assault and inappropriate sexual behavior while on duty last week after a complaint was filed March 30 for an incident on March 25. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which began reviewing the evidence at the request of …

]]>Officer Alexander Ego was fired by police chief Fred Fletcher on Tuesday. The officer was accused of sexual assault and inappropriate sexual behavior while on duty last week after a complaint was filed March 30 for an incident on March 25.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which began reviewing the evidence at the request of 11th District Attorney General Neal Pinkston, has not disclosed whether the person who filed the complaint is male or female, but has said that the person is a not a minor.

Ego was a new recruit who only graduated from the place academy in September.

“Because there is an active criminal investigation concerning Probationary Officer Alexander Ego’s behavior, the Chattanooga Police Department will be unable to release additional details or comment further at this time,” said police communications coordinator Kyle Miller in a release.

Chattanooga witnessed another police officer fired for sexual behavior on the job in 2015. Former detective Karl Fields was accused of making sexual advances on a female rape victim and was fired in April 2015.

Despite an internal investigation revealing hundreds of inappropriate text messages to the woman including a request for nude pictures, Fields did not face criminal charges.

]]>Tennessee Ends Effort To Arrest And Incarcerate Drug-Addicted Pregnant Women After ‘Fetal Assault’ Law Found To Deter Prenatal Care And Drug Treatmenthttp://injustice.in/health-care/2016/03/23/2565/
Wed, 23 Mar 2016 19:58:26 +0000http://injustice.in/?p=2565There is good news today for pregnant women in Tennessee. These are words I have never written before. The controversial “fetal assault” law passed in 2014 will expire this summer despite efforts by lawmakers to renew it. The law made Tennessee the first state in the nation to criminalize the use of drugs by pregnant …

]]>There is good news today for pregnant women in Tennessee. These are words I have never written before.

The controversial “fetal assault” law passed in 2014 will expire this summer despite efforts by lawmakers to renew it. The law made Tennessee the first state in the nation to criminalize the use of drugs by pregnant women by authorizing their arrest and incarceration if a pregnant woman’s use of narcotics leads to an infant death or addicted baby.

Advocates for reproductive freedom and women’s health were quick to declare the law a major threat to public health–a belief supported by leading medical experts–because it would ultimately lead addicted pregnant women into the shadows, afraid to seek help for drug treatment or discuss their concerns with their doctors.

In most cases, women are not being prosecuted for using drugs while pregnant but for being poor and of color while pregnant. The reality is that many women use alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs while pregnant. But only a few are prosecuted and only for using certain drugs—not those drugs shown to pose greater possible risk to fetal health, such as alcohol, but those we have decided to criminalize largely because of the populations of people who use them.

The threat of prosecution, Todd says, does not prevent drug use. Drug addition should be treated as the medical condition that it is and not used to criminalize poor and minority women, as that would only deter them from seeking treatment and prenatal care. Findings by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists were similar: punitive measures were not preventing mothers from using drugs or alcohol.

Additionally, the fetal assault law was criticized for establishing a frightening precedent, one where pregnant women would be operating under a different set of criminal laws than other Tennesseans.

“It creates a separate and unequal system of law for anyone who becomes pregnant,” said Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women.

The Tennessee law included a “sunset provision” causing it to expire in July 2016 unless it was extended. In recent weeks, members of the Tennessee GOP attempted to extend the law permanently and, on Tuesday, a committee of state legislators ultimately voted it down.

According to testimony received heard by the House Criminal Justice subcommittee, the fears of many about the effects of the fetal assault law proved to be founded.

Around 100 women have been arrested since the law came into effect. There was not a reduction in the number of infants born suffering from the effects of drugs or alcohol in any discernible way.

“I am seeing pregnant women presenting for treatment later in pregnancy—often in the third trimester. They tell me that they have tried to self-detox at home for weeks and months because they are afraid,” Young told legislators, adding that she’s “had patients tell me they are now planning on delivering out of state.”

Further, Allison Glass, the state director of Healthy and Free Tennessee, a nonprofit group for women’s health advocacy said, the reality of the policy is a true nightmare because the state simply does not have the drug treatment resources to help drug-addicted pregnant women. There is a waiting list over 1,000 names long for residential treatment programs and, of the 39 such programs in the state, pregnant women are only accepted by 11 of them. The state has 12 licensed methadone centers, but most do not accept Medicaid, meaning poor women are not able to access them.

Glass has called the vote Tuesday to end the criminalization of drug-addicted pregnant women a victory for Tennessee.

“This would have extended a dangerous and harmful law that has jailed pregnant women and new mothers who have used drugs, instead of working to ensure that they have access to effective treatment options,” Glass said. “We should never put our criminal justice system in the position of creating health policy.”

]]>Tennessee GOP Lawmaker Micah Van Huss Sponsors Bill To Strip 100K From School Diversity So He Can Buy “In God We Trust” Stickershttp://injustice.in/uncategorized/2016/03/17/tennessee-gop-lawmaker-micah-van-huss-sponsors-bill-strip-100k-school-diversity-can-buy-god-trust-stickers/
Thu, 17 Mar 2016 19:21:45 +0000http://injustice.in/?p=2501A Republican state representative in Tennessee named Micah Van Huss is sponsoring a bill that would defund diversity programs at the University of Tennessee, opting instead to use the money to purchase “In God We Trust” stickers on all law enforcement vehicles. As first reported by the Knoxville News Sentinel, Van Huss filed House Bill …

]]>A Republican state representative in Tennessee named Micah Van Huss is sponsoring a bill that would defund diversity programs at the University of Tennessee, opting instead to use the money to purchase “In God We Trust” stickers on all law enforcement vehicles.

As first reported by the Knoxville News Sentinel, Van Huss filed House Bill 2248, which would effectively strip funds allocated from UT’s Office for Diversity and Inclusion and further prevent the school from using any state-allocated funds “to promote the use of gender-neutral pronouns, Sex Week or to promote or demote a religious holiday.”

Taking things further, on Tuesday the GOP lawmaker added an amendment to this bill, stripping an additional $100,000 each year from the university, which would then be used to pay for “In God We Trust” stickers for law enforcement vehicles statewide.

The House Education Subcommittee approved both the amendment and the bill immediately.

Even some Republicans were taken back by Van Huss’ fire and brimstone rhetoric. His fellow GOP Rep. Eddie Smith pleaded with Huss to consider discussing a compromise which would allow UT to “fix these issues internally rather than us doing it.”

“I don’t know if it would be advantageous to take a step back. The University of Tennessee and specifically the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, in my mind and my research, has a history of repeat offenses,” Huss replied. “Personally I don’t trust the University of Tennessee to fix the problem on their own.”

Clearly, consistent attempts to create a more inclusive campus towards people of color and the LGBT community is not something the GOP is prepared to tolerate.

]]>Shots Fired Outside Of Corrupt Tennessee Sheriff’s Home, His Immediate Reaction: ‘Beyonce’s Video’ Made Him A Targethttp://injustice.in/america/2016/02/17/shots-fired-outside-of-tennessee-sheriffs-home-his-immediate-reaction-beyonces-video-made-him-a-target/
Thu, 18 Feb 2016 02:48:41 +0000http://injustice.in/?p=1923Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold told the press Tuesday that he suspects Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance and “Formation” music video may have led to a shooting outside his Murfreesboro, Tennessee home. The officer reported hearing eight gunshots outside of his house Monday around 9 PM. He yelled for his wife and two young children to get down on …

]]>Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold told the press Tuesday that he suspects Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance and “Formation” music video may have led to a shooting outside his Murfreesboro, Tennessee home. The officer reported hearing eight gunshots outside of his house Monday around 9 PM. He yelled for his wife and two young children to get down on the ground and only had time to notice a dark gray Nissan Altima on the street outside before it sped away.

Arnold showed a local TV channel .22 caliber shell casings found outside. His neighbors also confirmed hearing shots around the same time. While the motive for the incident remains unknown and Murfreesboro police are still investigating, Arnold stated at a press conference that he has his own ideas about why he may have become a target.

“Once I kind of figured everything out you know, with everything that’s happened since the Super Bowl, and with law enforcement as a whole, I mean I think we have lost five to seven officers, five deputies and sheriffs since Sunday’s Super Bowl. You know, that’s what I am thinking. You know here is another target on law enforcement,” Arnold said.

When asked to clarify what about the Super Bowl he was referring to, Arnold responded, “You know, Beyonce’s video and how that’s kind of led over into other things it seems like, about law enforcement.”

Then, when asked why he, specifically, would have been targeted in the shooting, Arnold said there was no reason he could think of “other than me being in my position, being the chief law enforcement officer in the county.”

Beyonce at SB50 (Getty Images)

Truth be told, the Sheriff of Rutherford County is in deep shit of his own–pending lawsuits naming him indicate there could be a lot more going on here than simply anti-law enforcement sentiment being stirred up by music videos with sinking patrol cars or dancers with Black Panthers’ outfits.

Robert Arnold’s house, for example, was featured prominently in the media in May 2015 as both the FBI and Tennessee Bureau of Investigations raided his home and office in a public corruption investigation. Arnold was discovered to be selling contraband to prisoners in an illegal operation owned by his aunt and uncle along with Rutherford County Chief Deputy Russell. The business, called JailCigs, was discovered when Arnold listed e-cigarette sales to inmates as a source of income.

Additionally, just a few days ago the parents of Rutherford County inmate Robert Lee Johnson filed a $20 million lawsuit against Arnold and other officials after their son was left without cognitive function after a near-death beating in his jail cell. The parents allege that Arnold and others knew that Johnson’s attacker, Guy Mitchell was unstable and dangerous, yet acted recklessly on behalf of the inmates due to overcrowded conditions.

The Daily Beast recorded these other lawsuits that demonstrate’s Arnold’s less-than-favorable record in his community:

Arnold’s comments on the deaths of “five to seven officers” relate to news reports on a couple of unrelated incidents since Super Bowl Sunday. A gunman opened fire into a crowded restaurant on February 10th resulting in a shootout killing two Maryland deputies. February 11th Fargo officer Jason Moszer was killed by a domestic violence suspect during a standoff. An Atlanta officer was shot and killed serving a drug warrant at an apartment complex the same day.

]]>Cops Mistake Cleaning Woman For Intruder, Chase Down And Tase Her, Have Her Charged With Evading Arresthttp://injustice.in/uncategorized/2016/02/01/cops-mistake-cleaning-woman-for-intruder-chase-down-and-tase-her-have-her-convicted-of-resisting-arrest/
Tue, 02 Feb 2016 00:44:08 +0000http://injustice.in/?p=1628 Two Collegedale, Tennessee police officers are under scrutiny for use of excessive force on a Guatemalan woman employed by a private cleaning company at Ooltewah Middle School. Sgt. Jamie Heath and Officer Brian Desmond had entered the school looking for a possible burglar on January 11th when they noticed an open door to the building. The …

Two Collegedale, Tennessee police officers are under scrutiny for use of excessive force on a Guatemalan woman employed by a private cleaning company at Ooltewah Middle School. Sgt. Jamie Heath and Officer Brian Desmond had entered the school looking for a possible burglar on January 11th when they noticed an open door to the building. The cleaning woman they encountered, 36-year-old Juana Raymundo, who did not speak English, was frightened by the officers and tried to run from them as they entered the school while she was cleaning with their guns drawn.

In the affidavit by the officers, they asked the woman to identify herself, but she answered all of their questions with “No,” because she did not understand and continued to flee. They describe how they chased her through the school’s cafeteria and down a flight of stairs before Heath used his taser to bring her to the ground.

Raymundo was charged with evading arrest and was released on $750 bond. She is expected in court on March 2.

]]>Prominent Tennessee GOP Lawmaker Resigns After Outed As A Serial Sexual Harasserhttp://injustice.in/women/2016/01/25/prominent-tennessee-gop-lawmaker-resigns-after-outed-as-a-serial-sexual-harasser/
Mon, 25 Jan 2016 19:58:39 +0000http://injustice.in/?p=1416The Republican Majority Whip for the Tennessee House Of Representatives has agreed to resign his title – but not his seat – after being exposed sexually harassing three different women. Via Raw Story: State Rep. Jeremy Durham officially stepped down hours after the GOP leadership released a statement saying he was out — but not before …

State Rep. Jeremy Durham officially stepped down hours after the GOP leadership released a statement saying he was out — but not before telling the press he was still undecided, reports The Tennessean.

An investigation by The Tennessean uncovered the texts sent to the women, although they had never reported the messages out of fear of retaliation or invasion of their privacy.

One woman, in her mid-20s, said she received late night texts from the Christian lawmaker saying he missed her and requesting pictures. Despite feeling uncomfortable with the texts, she feared what would happen if she reported the powerful Republican to her bosses.

“I go tell someone in HR, ‘oh, this representative did this to me, you know,’” explained the woman who asked that her name not be used. “I mean, I know those things are supposed to be anonymous, and no one’s supposed to know who it was. But someone would have known by the time I walked back across the street to the plaza.”

]]>Family sues over death of Tenn. man left hog-tied in police custodyhttp://injustice.in/america/2016/01/16/family-sues-over-death-of-tenn-man-left-hog-tied-in-police-custody/
Sat, 16 Jan 2016 22:54:16 +0000http://injustice.in/?p=1126July of last year Troy Goode of Memphis attended a rock concert with his wife in Southaven, Mississippi. As the wife, Kelli Goode was driving her LSD-intoxicated husband home and made a stop, a woman saw him acting erratically and notified police. According to the charges Mrs. Goode is bringing against the officers, her husband had …

]]>July of last year Troy Goode of Memphis attended a rock concert with his wife in Southaven, Mississippi. As the wife, Kelli Goode was driving her LSD-intoxicated husband home and made a stop, a woman saw him acting erratically and notified police. According to the charges Mrs. Goode is bringing against the officers, her husband had said “Ok, I’ll go” and had his hands up when an officer opened the vehicle and a dog was released, which the officers allowed to attack. As the man struggled to get up during the dog attack, the officer tasered him in the back and hog-tied him.

Hog-tying is known to restrict breathing, yet Goode was held in these restraints on the way to the hospital to be treated for the dog bites. The wife alleges that it was immediately clear her husband was having trouble breathing, yet a medical examiner ruled his subsequent death as “LSD toxicity,” a troubling determination considering there have been no known cases in the history of the substance where even the most extraordinary doses have resulted in a fatality due to toxicity. Will the courts uphold a fictional diagnosis to protect the interests of law enforcement or uphold the wife’s claim that these officers were criminally negligent?

]]>Tennessee: Two high ranking cops caught stealing $175,000 from police training non-profithttp://injustice.in/law-enforcement/2016/01/13/tennessee-two-high-ranking-cops-caught-stealing-175000-from-police-training-non-profit/
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 21:31:24 +0000http://injustice.in/?p=1032On Monday the taxpayer-funded nonprofit Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Officers Association asked Comptroller for an investigation into questionable payouts. The Washington County sheriff’s major, Gary Bradley and retired Sparta police lieutenant arrested, Robert Hall were charged and indicted. The officers were then serving as treasurer and project director of TLETOA respectively. It is alleged that over four …

]]>On Monday the taxpayer-funded nonprofit Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Officers Association asked Comptroller for an investigation into questionable payouts. The Washington County sheriff’s major, Gary Bradley and retired Sparta police lieutenant arrested, Robert Hall were charged and indicted. The officers were then serving as treasurer and project director of TLETOA respectively. It is alleged that over four years the two forged unauthorized checks to themselves for about $88,000 per person, an amount that in 2013 was over 41% of TLETOA’s total budget.